With seasonal adjustment, however, Case-Shiller says home prices in Portland rose 0.6 percent in November. And compared with a year ago, prices are up 6.7 percent, an appreciation rate not seen since March 2007.

"My expectation is that we're going to continue to see improvement in the housing market," said Tim Duy, a University of Oregon economist. "This is really consistent with the story that housing markets are on the upswing."

An index representing home prices in 20 major cities across the county fell 0.1 percent for the month but rose 5.5 percent compared with a year earlier.

Ten of the metros included in the index saw prices rise for the month, while the other 10 -- Portland included -- saw prices fall. Factoring in seasonal adjustment, only New York City saw a decline.

"Housing is clearly recovering. Prices are rising as are both new and existing home sales," said David Blitzer, S&P's index committee chairman. "These figures confirm that housing is contributing to economic growth."

In November, existing home sales reached their highest point since 2009, and new home sales their highest point since 2010.

Foreclosures and are still weighing on home prices. The small supply of homes for sale, paired with a much larger pool of buyers lured by low prices and interest rates, has been pushing prices higher.

In Portland, prices are now at a level seen before the crash in May 2005, and they are 10 percent higher than their housing crash low-water mark of March 2012.

The rebound has been particularly strong among the cheapest one-third homes -- those priced under $209,000 in the Portland area.

Those properties, which are sought after in good years as starter homes and investment properties, rose fastest in the bubble and fell farthest in the crash. From November 2011 to November 2012, they rose in price by 13.9 percent.

"Prices went low enough that it became a cash flow-positive option to buy those low-tier properties to rent them out," Duy said. "You've got momentum in all the tiers, but that's where there's the most."

The Case-Shiller index shows changes in value across all homes -- not just those recently sold -- by analyzing repeat sales of individual homes. Because of that methodology, it's a measure of the housing market that economists watch closely.

It's released on a two-month delay and uses a three-month rolling average of pricing data, so November's numbers actually reflect September and October as well.

Also released on Tuesday were the U.S. Census Bureau's housing survey data, which showed the nation's homeownership rate fell to 65.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, down from 66 percent a year earlier and the lowest level since 1996.

The number of households overall, however, grew as people who had doubled up with friends or family moved out on their own. That increased the number of both renter and homeowner households.